Biggles à Bornéo - 1 (Artima comic)/plot
The adaptation is fairly faithful to the original but like in some previous adaptations, the artist also embellished and expanded events and incidents where these made good picture subjects. The story was split into two parts each comprising 63 pages. The section headings below do not occur in the comic strip. The commentary here is divided into sections and use, where practical, the chapter titles in the original text to make comparison easier. The chapter numbers in brackets refer to those in the original book. For convenience and continuity, this commentary covers both part 1 and part 2 of the comic story. Invitation to Suicide (Chapters I and II) Most of the main points in the original are covered but more briefly. Captain Rex Larrymore's back story (here, simply Captain Larry) is related in fairly great detail. But there is no further planning conference (Chapter II in the original) at Biggles' squadron. He merely tells Raymond the next day that he will go and asks for his choice of equipment and carte blanche. The three Beaufighters and a Liberator depart for Lucky Strike. But here the route taken is via Cape of Good Hope to India. The aircraft look nothing like their real life counterparts--the Beaufighter is a single-engine tandem plane while the Liberator only has two engines. The arrival at Lucky Strike, the meeting with Suba, and how his tribemen help build hangars and living quarters for the squadron is faithful to the original. Biggles' pep talk to his squadron over dinner follows the same lines but is done more briefly. Dawn Patrol (Chapter III) Again, a bit shortened. There is no mention of anyone taking the Liberator to Australia for supplies. One picture shows the three "Beaufighters" taking off and the next picture they are attacking an aircraft carrier. They didn't have to follow a fighter to it and Kuching is not mentioned as the location. They then attack and blow up the Japanese patrol boat pursuing the sailing craft (this happened before the aircraft carrier in the original). The War-Drums Speak (Chapter IV) This plays out differently and on a differently timeline from the original. The war drums are heard the same afternoon and not the next day. There is no intervening photo-reconnaissance mission to Singapore and Surabaya nor light relief from Tug teaching the Punans boxing. Straight to the point, Larry tells Biggles the news that 3 white men are coming through the jungle. Larry asks Suba to prepare a team of 20 warriors and he takes a medical pack and departs with them to the rescue. Back at base, Biggles feels uneasy (he doesn't feel this way in the original). He tells Ginger over breakfast that he shouldn't have let Larry go. So while the rest of the squadron is asleep, he takes off with Ginger to take a look. They do not spot and shoot down a Japanese floatplane. Instead they see two Japanese patrol boats (not five canoes) coming up river and then the beached sailing craft. Ginger parachutes down. He meets Jackson who takes him to Bill Gray and Pat Flannagan. A whole page is given over to Ginger treating their wounds and supplying food to the three. War in the Jungle (Chapter V) The action in the jungle takes place more tamely than in the original. Ginger spots the Japanese troops in their boats from a treetop and hopes for a miracle. This arrives when the three Beaufighters attack and sink them "off-camera" as it were, all we see is a picture of Ginger hearing the gunfire in the distance. There is no episode of approaching Japanese troops being taken down by Punan blowpipes. Larry turns up. A page and a half are devoted to the Punans making chair-litters to carry the three wounded men back to base--these make good picture subjects. The rescue of the prisoners at Cotabato develops as an intrigue. Back at the base, the refugees tell their back-story. The commandant at Cotabato is Ritso, not Yashnowada. One of the Americans mentions that General Barton is still at Cotabato, (but here Biggles hasn't received instructions from Darwin to look out for him like in the original). He suggests that there is a way for Biggles to organise a rescue without the need to consult higher command. Jackson mentions the two women prisoners and is certain Biggles has the audacity to mount a successful operation and he offers to help. Biggles retires for the night telling himself not to become sentimental but still feels uneasy. Finally he makes up his mind. So he praises Bertie for his diplomatic skills and asks him to go to Darwin and wrangle an amphibibian! (In the original, Jackson goes with Angus and get the strong support of HQ.) An Unwelcome Passenger (Chapter VI) Meanwhile Biggles sends two Beaufighters to photo-recce Cotabato. One is flown by Algy and Ginger and the other is flown by Smyth! He has on board the two American aviators for local knowledge. The episode of the snake leading to Algy and Ginger crashlanding and being captured by Japanese troops. All is as per the original text, except that here a point is made that the Japanese navy treats them well. Three pictures are spent showing them having a good meal on the submarine--Ginger remarks that the navy still upholds their best traditions. This is then contrasted with their treatment when they are handed over to the army at Cotabato. The interview with Ritso goes much like the original with Yashnowada. Biggles Hears the News (Chapter VII) Biggles gets the news from Smyth but here, he waits until Bertie returns. Biggles then takes the amphibian to the island where Algy and Ginger crashed and, concluding that they had been captured, he returns to base. Over dinner there is a rather light-hearted distraction when Bertie relates how he obtained the amphibian. He had met his cousin Lord Spening, an R.A.F. air marshal. Bertie had played golf with him and, for once, had to lose (which Biggles thought was a big sacrifice) so as to obtain the favour of an aircraft. The expedition to the island where Algy crashed is much as in the original text. Only, here, the Japanese prisoner speaks a bit of English and his answers are aided with threats from Suba. There is an embellishment to give added colour to their departure. Here, the island garrison spots them and attacks. They hurry to take off but Bertie has forgotten to pull up the anchor. So he has to climb out and cut the cable and then clamber back on board, all wet but still without losing his monocle. All this excitement is good for three pages of pictures. Events at Cotabato (Chapter VIII) The rescue at Cotabato takes place much as in the original except that there isn't any preliminary warning from war drums. Algy hears engines, bombs drop. The ammo dump is set on fire and a bag of tools and weapons is dropped to the prisoners. Algy, Ginger and the rest cut their way out and go up the hill as ordered to meet Bertie who takes them to the coast where most of them board a boat which Jackson has obtained. There's in fact no evidence that Suba or Larry are part of the expedition. Part 1 of the 2 parter ends with the amphibian taking the boat in tow. Visitors at Lucky Strike (Chapter IX) At the state of Part 2, the amphibian has cast off the boat at a secluded island and is on the way to base. They are intercepted by a Japanese fighter but two escorting Beaufighters shoot it down. In the original, it was an enemy flying boat. Bertie ferries the remaining prisoners back to Lucky Strike and the Liberator takes them to Australia. The visit by the Japanese flying boat who makes a dud landing thinking it is a lake and the subsequent overflight by a Nakajima both occur as in the original. Fee Wong Comes Back (Chapter X) A British aircraft appears (it doesn't say it is a Saro Cloud) and discharges two unnamed officers and Fee Wong. The difference is, here the officers bring a case of whisky and they and Biggles drink a toast! The plane leaves while Fee Wong stays behind. Then follows the argument where all of Biggles' friends insist on going on the mission but here, Bertie also gets to go along. Larry is left in charge of Lucky Strike! Fee Wong describes the mission in flight. Monsoon (Chapter XI) Enroute Biggles tells Bertie they have a headwind of at least a hundred per hour (in the original it was 40 mph). But perhaps Biggles is using kilometers here. Fee Wong tells Biggles he has petrol at his sawmill and this lifts Biggles' spirits. They find Telapur with less ado than in the original. The rains have begun, and Algy and Ginger work in the downpour to tie the plane up. Bertie tells Biggles its someone else's turn to get all wet (this becomes a running gag through the rest of the book). The action here takes on a choppy nature because certain important pieces of information are left out of the speech bubbles. Fee Wong returns with his brother with the news that the Japanese are at the sawmill and have taken over the petrol. Biggles suddenly asks what kind of timber they cut and comes up with the idea of getting elephants to push teak logs into flolding river. (Why? He hasn't been told the junks--they are junks here, not barges--are on the way and these has been no mention of the pontoon bridge.) A Hectic Night (Chapter XII) The elephant operation takes place much as in the original except the logs don't get jammed and there is no episode of Kayan sacrficing his life to free the logs. The bridge and junks are generally smashed. Meanwhile Algy has been guarding plane when a large group of Malay workers show up carrying jerry cans. (How? As last mentioned, the Japanese had taken over the petrol). The aircraft is fueled up but now comes the attack of the rogue elephant which is settled by Biggles shooting the animal. Another Bertie embellishment--he promises to get Algy a monocle when they get back to England. The Japanese attack is beaten off with a stampede of elephants in a series of dramatic pictures. Adventures on the River (Chapter XIII) The engines can't start because they are too wet. So, while drifting down the river, they discover a junk which had run aground, so Biggles jumps on board followed by Ginger. But here Biggles isn't thinking of taking the fuel but taking the battery to help start the aircraft??? Meanwhile the amphibian drifts away from the junk just like in the original. They start the engine and follow downstream and then ram the patrol craft which had captured the aircraft. A bit more embellishment here. Ginger says he doesn't leave a place without eating something from it. They go ashore and Fee Wong's men make them a good meal and set up a bivouac for them to sleep. Shortly after, Japanese bombers turn up and bomb the sawmill with incendiaries. More Shocks (Chapter XIV) Back on track with the original, a Kawanishi flying boat (not a floatplane here) turns up but here it is Fee Wong's brother and not Ginger who dresses up as a Japanese soldier to trick the plane to approach. They capture the plane and crew but don't take the fuel? They just disable it and set the crew adrift. All aboard to return to Lucky Strike. The aircraft takes off and narrowly misses the treetops because Biggles is suddenly taken ill so Ginger takes over, just as in the original. This is expanded a little here, with Fee Wong administering quinine and looking after Biggles on the flight back. As they approach, they spot the Japanese bombers and then the smoke on the ground indicating that Lucky Strike had been attacked. Instead of Algy, it's Bertie here who attempts the landing on the damaged landing strip and just like Algy, he does this successfully except for damaging the undercarriage when the plane hits a crater. Disaster at Lucky Strike (Chapter XV) Biggles gets news of what has been happening at Lucky Strike from Rex and this is much as in the original: there had been three raids, their Beaufighters had all been destroyed. Only, in this adaptation, there is no news of Japanese troops approaching by land through the jungle. The Liberator has gone to Australia and not returned so Biggles sets the men to repairing the landing ground. The Liberator returns and Biggles details Ginger to take it to Australia. He takes off just as another Japanese raid hits the airstrip. On the way, he is intercepted by Fulmars and ordered to land on a carrier--all this is faithful to the original. Ginger Goes Back (Chapter XVI) The sequence where Ginger leads a formation of Fulmars from the carrier to intercept and destroy the Japanese bombers just as they are attacking Lucky Strike again is faithfully depicted, if a bit more briefly. As there is no plotline about Yashnowada leading Japanese troops through the jungle, the entire sequence about Rex going with Suba and his warriors to intercept them is omitted. The End of Yashnowada (Chapter XVII) This heading is a bit of a misnomer since there is no battle with Yashnowada and his Japanese troops in the jungle. The ending happens much more briefly. A Liberator arrives at Lucky Strike escorted by fighters. Someone (it's not Raymond) tells Biggles he has fulfilled his mission and are to go to Australia for a few weeks of leave. A new unit would be moving in. Rex decides to stay with Suba, as in the original. On departure, Fee Wong presents Biggles with a bag of diamonds--presents from Borneo for him and his squadron, he says. Category:Plot summaries (derivative works)